Supergirl - Product of the 80's or Subpar Additon to a Film Franchise?

Imagine the TV sitcom The Facts of Life if one the girls was from another planet and the cousin of a popular superhero. That's the movie Supergirl.

Supergirl was produced at the height of Superman's film popularity in the 80's. I recall passing by a poster of this movie when I was younger thinking it was just a dream.
Even as a child I loved female based media. Females were more fun and 3 dimensional. Especially Jem. :-)

Guys were boring and only good for sex. Especially that blonde kid from Who's the Boss. We were the same age so it was okay.

I finally saw Supergirl on television repeatedly as a teen and fell instantly in love. Supergirl had a mission, to save her planet of Argo, she had a friend in Lois Lane's little sister played by Maureen Teefy (Fame, Grease 2) and she had an awesome villain in Mommie Dearest herself. No, not Joan Crawford, but Faye Dunaway.

I finally got to see Supergirl on DVD. The director's cut. Holla!
Supergirl herself was played to perfection by Helen Slater in her first role ever. Faye Dunaway as the villainous witch Selena can be argued to have more screen time than Supergirl, but come on, it's Faye Dunaway. Faye Dunaway gives one of her best camp performances. If you loved her in Mommie Dearest then this movie will be one big gay ole' time.
While Superman had Lois Lane to save now and then, Supergirl has a hottie himbo named Ethan (Hart Bochner) who reminds me of Owen Wilson if he played that hottie gardener in Desperate Housewives. Unlike Lois Lane, Ethan has very little when it comes to brains. Thus the term "himbo." He is very enchanting though and it's easy to see why Supergirl would be enamored with him. It's kinda' like me and my love of my guinea pig Chubbles.

The movie itself is an acquired taste. Aside from references to Superman (Christopher Reeve doesn't appear in person) and a cameo from Jimmy Olsen, there's very little connection to the other Superman movies. The plot is a little contrived: Supergirl must save her inner-space planet from dying out by retrieving it's power source, The Omegahedron, from Earth. While on Earth it gets into the hands of the witch Selena who uses it's powers for (gasp) evil. The music is very beautiful, composed by the great Jerry Goldsmith, and the acting is top notch. It's the script that really needed help. Director Jeannot Szwarc has stated that not having Christopher Reeves in the movie really affected his vision of the movie.

The movie is not bad for being a Superhero fantasy film of the 80's, especially the newly found director's cut which should be the ONLY version you watch. I can't wait to get this on Blu Ray, if that release ever happens that is.

The Drawn Together Movie The Movie - Then, Now and Now What?

A while back, I met Cree Summer at The San Diego Comic Con sitting at a booth for a new series she was a part of that was coming out soon called Drawn Together. Cree Summer has been one of my favorite all around artists. She does it all really. She's acted on-screen, voice acted and she sings too. She's also the voice of one of the Disney Princesses, but one that is never really used ever: Kida from Journey to Atlantis.
Pretty much I love this woman and when she told me, in person, to watch Drawn Together, I pretty much had no choice. I was going to watch Drawn Together. As a side note, co-star Tara Strong, who voices Princess Clara in the series, a parody of the Disney Princess archetype, also voices a Disney Princess. Ariel's Daughter Melody.

Drawn Together was created at the height of reality television popularity. It was based on a premise that a lot of reality shows utilized and still utilize: Take strangers, put them in a cage/house together and watch the chaos.
The strangers in this case were eight cartoon characters:

• Princess Clara - Based on the archetype of The Disney Princess. Very sheltered and ignorant of the world.
• Foxxy Love, voiced by Cree Summer - An homage to the mystery crime solving heroine of the Hanna Barbera Cartoons. Borrows heavily from Josie and the Pussycats and ScoobyDoo. And since she is voiced by Cree Summer, she is the real star of the series voicing several other characters like Strawberry Sweetcake in the Season 2 opener and Suck My Taint Girl in the movie.
• Toot - Imagine if Betty Boop were a fat disgusting cow. That's Toot. Bless her heart.
• Waldorf - Spongebob, but not Spongebob. But yeah, it's Spongebob.
• Captain Hero - A bastard child of Marvel and DC.
• Spanky - An internet cartoon download. Crude and nasty, and very lovable.
• Xandir - An openly gay character based on Link from Legend of Zelda. I love him. 
• Ling Ling - Pikachu as an Asian Stereotype. Speaks in a made up Asian language.

The show is weird and morbid and always offensive, but I've always been a fan of such things. I think it's because I grew up addicted to the MTV series Liquid Television.
While I have to agree that the series strayed from it's strong 1st Season, the other 2 seasons probably have the best character interaction I've seen in any show in a long time in an animated series. Watching this show is like visiting a group of friends that no doubt love each other, but because of how different they are makes for interesting conversations and situations. One just has to watch the Season 1 episode Gay Bash to see how the each one of the housemates react to Xandir's coming out.
The humor of the episode also varies from Family Guy "cut to clip" type humor, to well written dialogue humor and to old fashioned Looney Tunes type humor.
When the show was canceled, I wasn't exactly surprised. Most shows I adore get canceled.
So that brings us to today. The Drawn Together movie, titled The Drawn Together Movie The Movie, is a direct to DVD (and Best Buy Blu Ray) finale to the canceled series.
The movie's release and it's complete series release on home video is also a way of seeing if the series can make a come back. When Family Guy was released on DVD after it's cancelation, the sales went so high that it came back on Fox TV 5 years later. Drawn Together is hoping for the same kind of miracle.
The plot revolves around a meta fiction type plot in which The Drawn Together characters deal with their cancellation. One of the reasons of their cancellation, as said by their replacement -  Suck My Taint Girl - is that their show has no point, so our favorite characters are sent to Make a Point Land where they hope to find some moral value to their show.

If you're a fan of the series, there is much to love in this movie. If you're a fan of the many animated cartoons they reference, there is also much to love. The movie features cameos from Bedrock, The Smurfs, Disney and anime. The villainous ISRAEL (Intelligent Smart Robotic Animation Eraser Lady voiced by Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane) looks like one of the robots from the 80s anime Bubblegum Crisis.
The movie was animated with Flash, but I barely noticed. The movie looks beautiful and if it's cheaper to animate with Flash and get away with it, I say go for it.



My only gripe is the movie's claim that Drawn Together has no moral value. I disagree. I can name a number of episodes that pay tribute to the history of animation or really expose a moral dilemma. But then again, the creator's themselves have said that Drawn Together has no real continuity, and that's okay too. Cartoons are funny people and Drawn Together embraces that fully.
The movie can only be full enjoyed if one has prior knowledge to the series. I would not want to introduce Drawn Together to new fans with this movie, especially it being the finale.
I can only hope that this release will mean a new future for Drawn Together. Already I can see Drawn Together's influence in popular culture. In Archie Comics, Archie has recently started to woo Valerie, whom Foxxy Love is based off of; and an openly gay character has been introduced to the family friendly comic as well. I would've just saved everyone time and just had Jughead come out along with Alan M.
So please everyone, buy this movie, buy the complete box set of the series, and help keep these characters alive.

Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie - The Real Moulin Rouge of Anime

As stated in my previous post, Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis was touted as "the Moulin Rouge of anime." What that really means is that it was a movie that took a favorite genre and mixed in all the best elements to make a new whole. What I find wrong about that statement is that calling the film "the Moulin Rouge of anime" is doing a disservice to animation in general.

Animation, specifically the anime style, is not a genre, it's a medium than can tell any number of stories. Anime is not just giant robots and girls with guns. It's limitless.
With that in mind, Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie is more a "Moulin Rouge of anime" than Metropolis. Rooted in the genre of Shojo Anime (anime written with a female perspective), Utena uses anime devices to explore the psyche of all these characters presented in the film, namely our main heroine Utena.
Utena has arrived at Ohtori Academy - a school that seems to be alive like the stairs in the Harry Potter movies- leaving a forgotten past behind. She is swept up accidentally into protecting Anthy, The Rose Bride. What follows is a visually stunning movie that tells it's story through symbolism, Freudian Dialogue and anime storytelling devices.

The music in the movie is very beautiful, led mostly by a piano and a symphonic orchestra. The movie does include two pop songs in two important moments. The effect is powerful.
Utena is not a movie you just watch, but it's a movie you watch and watch and watch as each layer is peeled to reveal an answer, or even more layers. It's also a movie that's full of personal interpretation. The film invites you in to leave the film with your own answers as to what just happened on screen. Don't let all the pink in the movie fool you, this movie deals with some serious themes.


You'll notice I didn't really delve into the plot. Yeah, I did that on purpose. If my review has peaked your curiosity a little, then I advise you check this movie out, and let it engulf you. The movie is like a little seed. Once you view, it will blossom into a beautiful big rose. Or just watch the series it's based off of. :-)

Images were taken from Empty Movement:Your Daily Dose of Shojo Kakumei Utena

Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis - A History Lesson in Anime

Upon it's American release in 2002 by TriStar, Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis was touted as "the Moulin Rouge of anime." Based on Osamu Tezuka's classic manga Metropolis, the film version is a nice combination of classic animation and where it might be heading. Granted now it's 2010 in my own time so it will be much easier to judge wether or not Metropolis' vision of the future of animation held.

The film, helmed by top anime director Rintaro and scripted by Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo, tells the story of politics, war and a bunch of other grown up stuff I don't care to discuss. At the heart of the story is the friendship between the young hero Kenichi and the mysterious Tima, whom he meets when he gets seperated from his detective uncle , Shunsaku Ban, who's hired by Metropolis' Duke Red to solve a mystery. Also involved is Atlas, an extreme activist for human rights against robots. Atlas is voice by Scott Weigner in the english version, who is also the voice for Disney's Aladdin.
The plot borrows heavily from Fritz Lang's Metropolis (my favorite movie ever). When that movie was released, creator Osamu Tezuka -The Godfather of Anime - passed by a poster of the classic silent film and was inspired to write his manga. He had never seen the silent film. This movie version, made after Tezuka's death, uses themes and plot points from the original movie but never becomes an animated remake. Fans of the silent film will find much to love in this retelling, especially since the look and feel is very 1920s.
The soundtrack of Metroplis' is a nice mix of big John William's type orchestra, and New Orleans Jazz. Ray Charles even makes an appearance with the song "I Can't Stop Loving You" in the film's climactic moment.

The look and feel of the characters is inspired by the simplicity of Japanese Animated Characters, and even American Animated Characters, during the early days of animation. It would look like an old Disney movie if it weren't for all the CGI in the background. The CGI  itself blends very easily with the 2d animated characters and never detracts the attention from the characters.

Eventually  CGI would take over animation almost completely, but it looks like the heart of 2d animation is making a comeback with an emphasis on storytelling devices in CGI animated features.
The movie is worth a viewing if not to see what an awesome medium animation is in telling a story as big as Metropolis.

Universally Bad Movies (and How They Could've Been Avoided - Maybe)

As anyone can tell from reading my blog posts, I am a very positive happy person. I don't really like leaving negative reviews because even if "I" think it's a bad film, your own personal experience of the viewing might be different.

And then there's those movies that are just so bad that everyone agrees on a universal level that they're just bad movies. Here are a few of those turkeys ad what could've been done to avoid their unavoidable Razzies.

DISASTER MOVIE

• Why do studios insist on making these parody movies? From what I read, a huge majority of audience members hate them and they make no money. However, there is an audience for these parody movies - and I use the term "parody" loosely - so the studios churn them out. There are some gems in these pieces of garbage though, namely Dance Flick, Scary Movie and it's sequels and Date Movie. Disaster Movie was one that I think could've been much better than it actually was - with a few tweeking of course.
• First of all, the title needs to go. The main focus of it's mocking had almost nothing to do with disaster movies. This movie mocked High School Musical, Juno and Enchanted among others. I would've called it Summer Movie, or Tween Movie. Although if it was called Tween Movie that would limit it to a certain age of audience, eliminating more than half of it's most effective gags.
• I would also have eliminated a really lame joke in which The Disney Princess is revealed to really be a man. I think it takes away from the great comedic work that Nicole Parker put into that character. I also would've given her more scenes, rendering Kim Kardashian's role almost pointless. I also would've given the character of Juney more to do. A Juno satire played by Crista Flanagan should never go to waste.
  

GIGLI

• I am going to be completely honest here (Wow I sound like Simon Cowell). The only thing that worked for me in this movie was that mentally challenged younger brother that Ben and Jen were watching after, played by Justin Bartha. That decision of course has nothing to do with my attraction to dopey guys. Give him more scenes and lose the lesbian subplot and you have a somewhat passable movie.
  

GLITTER

• Oh Mariah. Girl what happened? So this movie was a mess, and that is so sad because it started off as really promising and then gradually became a huge glittery mess. Edward glitter. So what could've helped this movie?
• I would've made it a tad more gritty. It looked way too polished and artificial. I know it's called Glitter, but come on, we have to believe in the world our characters inhabit.
• I would've nixed the abandoned mother subplot. It was almost non-existent. Throughout the movie, Billie is looking for her mother while becoming an 80s Pop Icon. Instead of all of that, I would've had Billie (Mariah's character) purposely try to avoid her mother for abandoning her, and then realize at the end that family is all she can really have. I would have her decide for herself that it's time to patch things up with her mother so she herself can be a full person. That would make Billie a more active character.
  

BATMAN AND ROBIN

• First things first. Lose Bane.
• Next, I was all right with the bright colors of the movie, the nipples on the costumes, the enlarged cod pieces, and even the homoerotic nature of it all. Well, I am still me. What I wasn't okay with was how Batgirl wasn't Batgirl. It's almost as if the director forgot that Alicia Silverston can actually act so he just told her to be herself. Not a good move Joel Schumacher. Also, I can make peace with the fact that they changed her into Alfred's niece as opposed to Commissioner Gordon's daughter, but at least make her "look" like Batgirl. The costume was all wrong, her dialogue was all wrong and her hair was all wrong. You can mess with a lot of things in this franchise, but don't mess with hair color. Batgirl is a REDHEAD!!!! Can you imagine if they made Batman a blonde? No I don't think so.
• Give the rest of the characters more development and you've got your movie. Of course there's no way it could even compare to Dark Knight.

CATWOMAN

• The editing in this movie was crap. Characters would talk and the camera would either be too late to catch it, or to close up to absorb what's happening. So a new editor is a must.
  
• As much as I love Halle Berry, if she really wanted to do Catwoman justice, I would've made a reboot as opposed to a spin-off. Instead of being Patience Price, I would've had her as everyone's favorite feline gal, Selina Kyle and I would've set the movie in Gotham City. I also would've lost the schizo aspect of the character that they thought would work for this film. It didn't work.
• Maybe Halle will keep this in mind when she makes that Catwoman sequel she's been talking about producing.

XANADU

• Wow was this movie trying so hard to be good, and ultimately failing in every aspect. It contained individual scenes that worked on their own, but as a whole, this movie was so bad. This movie is probably the reason why studios started to take caution in making movie musicals. Well, this movie and Grease 2.
• So what could've helped this mess that is Xanadu? Pretty much a lot of it's faults were already fixed in the recent stage adaptation of said movie. Characters were fleshed out and made self aware, Mt. Olympus was now Mt. Olympus and not a set reject from Tron, villains were added, song placement made sense. That's all it needed. Now if only they can remake it? Hear that Adam Shankman?

I had more on this list (From Justin to Kelly, The Hottie and the Nottie, etc.), but the changes I wanted to list became repetitive. Pretty much, the majority of bad movies out there lack focus and lack character development, or they rely too much on star power and hype. Here's a tip Hollywood: Marketing a film isn't what makes a movie, a good movie sells itself.

Phoebe in Wonderland - Now that's Wonderland

"The books are a kind of Rorschach test, a screen onto which people project their own ideas"

-Jenny Wolf, author of The Mystery of Lewis Carroll-

It's no secret that I love the Alice books by Lewis Carrol - all two of them - and I agree with Jenny Wolf's assertion. These books are so loved because it's different for every reader. It's why there are so many movies, cartoons, series and stage versions (soon my own) of these books. Everyone has their favorite version  or versions. In other words: Your interpretation says more about who you are rather than what the books are.

For that fact alone is probably why I enjoyed Phoebe in Wonderland as much as I did. Phoebe - played by Elle Fanning (Dakota's little sister) - uses Wonderland as a device to explain what she doesn't understand in the world she inhabits. Then she really gets to escape to Wonderland when she gets cast as the lead in her school's production of Alice in Wonderland along with her male friend Jamie (Ian Coletti) who gets cast as The Queen of Hearts.

What really drives this story home though is not Phoebe's tourettes or even when Jamie is called a fag (the movie was a GLAAD award nominee), but in the way that adults just don't understand what it's like to be a child.

Patricia Clarkson (goddess) plays the drama teacher Miss Dodger (get it?) who seems to be the only one in the faculty that really knows how to nurture these children. The best scenes in the movie are the audition and rehearsal scenes for school play Alice in Wonderland, and I'm not just saying that because I can "borrow" their stage ideas. Miss Dodger takes these kids seriously and expects them to take her seriously and that's what children really need. Someone not condescending and someone who commands authority. She owns every scene she is in. The movie also has Bill Pullman and Felicity Huffman as Phoebe's parents. Felicity Huffman does what she does best, play the concerned mother, and Bill Pullman is pretty much Bill Pullman. Elle Fanning as Phoebe was phenomenal. People are going to call her a younger version of Dakota Fanning - and she is for obvious reasons - but she also has an acting style that is purely her own. She also gets to show off her singing voice in one of the cutest recreations of Looking Glass World's infamous "Welcome Queen Alice" scene.

Directed by Daniel Barnz - who's directing the upcoming Beastly, a modern take on Beauty and the Beast with Mary Kate Olsen and Neil Patrick Harris among other famous faces - Phoebe in Wonderland is what it is: It's a movie about a little girl dealing with tourettes. The added layer of Wonderland is just a device and it never takes over the movie completely. It's complementary as opposed to distracting and really does help us to almost fully understand what's going on in this little girl's head as she deals with the frustration and confusion of her world. A world that neither she or the people around her can fully understand.

I enjoyed this movie fully and plan to watch it again and again. It's beautifully filmed and very well acted, especially Elle Fanning and Patricia Clarkson. It's almost sad that it's theatrical release was limited. So go get it on DVD or Blu Ray or The Queen will have your head.

Tiana and Charlotte - Princess Evolution

To anyone who has seen Cinderella 2 and Cinderella 3, you'd have to agree with me onseveral things:

• Cinderella 2 was only good the last 20 minutes.
• Cinderella 3 was really good
• It was refreshing to see a friendship develop between a Disney Princess and another Female character. 

Of course I'm talking about Cinderella and the friendship that developed between her and her stepsister Anastasia, the red headed sister, in the sequels, who we all know wasn't very nice to Cinderella in the original film.
Disney Studios have had female to female relationships in the past. There was Pocahontas and her friend Nakoma, and Aurora and her fairy guardians, but they were always under developed.
Princess and the Frog introduces a new female to female relationship with Tiana and Charlotte. The very first shot of our main character in the movie, Tiana, is a shot of both her and Charlotte, establishing very early on in the story that Tiana and Charlotte's fate's are going to be intertwined, especially with their different view points on fairy tale romances... and this is all before the opening titles are shown.
The friendship between these two women is very interesting, especially in this day and age where fairy tales are starting to fade as the years go on by. One just has to take a look at Dreamwork's Shrek to see how cynical we have gotten with these fairy tales.
In Princess and the Frog, we have Tiana, who is very cynical about fairy tale romance. This girl just wants to make her dreams come true, but she won't wait for a prince to make it happen for her, she's going to work hard at it. And work hard at it she does as she juggles two jobs.
Charlotte believes very much in fairy tale romance. She wishes on stars to make her dreams come true and one cannot doubt that they usually do come true for her.
With these two extremes, one would also think that these two women would would be at each other's throats, because after all, doesn't every struggling princess need a stepsister to balance her out?
But alas, we do not get a villain for our hero in Charlotte. Charlotte is a very loyal friend to Tiana and Tiana is established as rock for Charlotte to lean on when things get too crazy in the socialite world she resides in. A world of money and privilege. I have no doubt that Charlotte's world is full of phonies and backs stabbers and her only real friend is Tiana who keeps things real for her and helps her see things in a different perspective. Tiana can also be seen learning from Charlotte as well. Without Charlotte's kind heart and optimism, I don't think Tiana could have ever believed that she could rise above her social status and buy her own restaurant.
Charlotte was created to show what audiences expect a stereotypical princess to be like and Tiana was created to show what it really means to be a princess. While Charlotte in the movie is called a princess mainly because her dad is the king of Mardi Gras, she has all the qualities of a Disney princess with the exception of having a "want song." She's kind, she's sweet, she's pink, she wears big ole dresses, and she wants her prince, and she gets him by wishing on a star. That's a Disney Princess. In fact, if Charlotte met Naveeen as a Frog before Tiana did, the movie would've ended right then and there.
Tiana is not what audiences expect in a princess, and it's confusing. She's poor and has to work, like Cinderella; she doesn't want a guy to just save her, like Belle; she's an oddball, like Ariel AND Belle; she has a want song, "Almost There"; and she's only a princess at the end of the movie, like Cinderella and Belle. Throughout the process of making this film, Disney kept getting complaints about Tiana. She was not a princess in their eyes because she had  a job and she's a frog for most of the movie. Audiences nowadays don't want their princess to have depth or struggle it seems. But Tiana is a princess, in the same sense that Charlotte is a princess, and this is before either of them get the title. Both of these women are strong, caring, loving and heroic in their right. Anyone who can't see Charlotte kissing Naveen as a frog as a selfless act has missed the point of the movie. And Tiana kissing Naveen as a frog turning him into a prince had nothing to do with marriage. It was love baby, and love over everything else really makes you a princess.
Tiana and Charlotte now join the other female friendships that Disney has created, and I hope they develop more of these kinds of relationships for young girls to view. Women are a very powerful sex, especially when they stick together.
 

Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Underland is Underplayed

Writing my own version of the Alice books by Lewis Carroll for the stage, I can understand the difficulty in adapting this work for film.
The books are very episodic with little to no story. On top of that, the dialogue in the books are so stylized that it's hard to really make an Alice movie without directly having to reference the original text. Also, people just hate to see their favorite books on screen. Ask any Twilight fan.
Tim Burton presents a sequel, Alice in Wonderland, to the books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and  Alice Through the Looking Glass, so it's hard to compare the books to his film, and that's how it should be, enough said.
Alice (newcomer Mia Wasikowska) is now an adult returning to Underland, a magical place she frequented as a child, but has only vague memories of it. Things are different now with The Red Queen (an amalgamation of The Queen of Hearts and The Red Queen from the books played by Helena Bonham Carter) taking over Underland.
The all star cast includes Anne Hathaway (who turned down the role of Alice to play the kooky White Queen), Crispin Glover as The Knave of Hearts, Alan Rickman as The Caterpillar and Matt Lucas in the scene stealing roles of Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Of course there's also Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, but everyone knows he's in this one due to the massive publicity and marketing.
With a script written by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, Lestat and Lion King) and costumes by Colleen Atwood (Sweeney Todd, Memoirs of a Geisha, Nine, Edward Scissorhands) under Tim Burton's direction, can anything go wrong?
Sadly, a few things can. I felt the characters were a little under developed, which makes me wonder if a plethora of character development scenes were cut. I also thought the storyline was too subtle. There is a story that happens in this movie, but it's so underplayed that you can almost forget it's there. I find this sad since Burton has stated that he wants his Alice film to have a story as opposed to being episodic.
He almost succeeds. While there is a definite story, it seems to take a back seat to too much spectacle.
On the good side, the script does an awesome job of mimicking Lewis Carroll's writing style. Other productions simply rehash the dialogue in the book, but in the case of this film, that was not an option due to it being a sequel. The dialogue is a huge highlight in this film.
I also like that as a sequel, it really works. If you know these characters, then the lack of character development won't bother you. As a stand-alone movie, it's visually stunning, but that's about it.
Despite my negative feelings about the film, I have no doubt of it's status as a classic. This movie will be seen over and over again from this day on, I promise you, and not just by me. Remember that Wizard of Oz in 1939 had a less than stellar opening and even the Burton produced Nightmare Before Christmas took awhile to really gain notoriety.
Jam Tomorrow, Jam Yesterday, But Never Jam Today.
As a sequel I think it's also makes an awesome companion piece to anyone's favorite version of Alice. So sit down, pop in your favorite Alice movie, then watch this Tim Burton sequel.

Alice (2009) - The Other Wonderland Reimagining

Following the success of Tin Man, their modern day adaptation of the Oz books, the creators of such mini-series like 10th Kingdom, Merlin and the 1999 star studded TV movie Alice in Wonderland, comes Alice, a modern day adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. 
Alice follows the adventures of an adult Alice (played here by Caterina Scorsone, who is every bit as kick ass as Zooey Deschanel in Tin Man if not more so) who follows a White Rabbit into a secret place called Wonderland. Wonderland has been taken over completely by The Queen of Hearts (Kathy Bates) and The King of Hearts (Colm Meaney) who use Oysters (people from our world) to harvest emotions out of and sell to the people of Wonderland as Tea.
In her journeys, Alice must find her kidnapped boyfriend, Jack Chase, befriend a Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts) and find her missing father. She also meets Tim Curry as Dodo in one scene. Just one scene.

This is a very impressive production with awesome pacing. The story keeps moving along and never drags, an element that plagues most movie versions of the books.
The look of the movie is also worth a mention. Alice and her friends are in a forest for the most part, but The Queen's Castle and Casino seem right out of a spy movie. The Duchess' look in this version recalls Emma Peel from The Avengers. Sadly her character is a little under developed.
This version of Alice seems to have more in common with sci-fi action films, but there is definitely an element of fantasy and a love for the source material. Almost all of the characters in Wonderland appear in one form or another and they are definitely recognizable.
Most importantly, the character of Alice in this version really commands your attention. I also think she really commanded my attention because she looks like my friend Chelsea. Aside from that though, her acting was very top notch for TV standards.
I highly recommend this for fans of kick ass female shows and movies. Pretty much if you like Charlie's Angels, Buffy and heck even Tru Calling, you'll want to take a gander at this mini-series on Blu Ray.

The Gardener - This One's for the Ladies (and some of you men)

The Gardener is a 70s Horror Film starring Joe Dallesandro as the title character, a gardener with evil powers. More importantly, gardener who never wears a shirt with evil powers. Excited yet?
The movie is very pretty, filmed in Puerto Rico. Very gorgeous shots of various flowers and our title character fill the movie.
It's not very believable that Carl - The Gardener - can manipulate the flowers to drive his employers and friends crazy, and that's mostly because it isn't really explained. It just happens, and they expect us to believe it because the evidence is there. He comes, he goes, they go crazy.
I want to say that this movie was made to exploit the young actor (at least young at the time), but he's never really explored. He has some exploitive scenes, like when he skinny dips and seduces various female characters, but he's really not "fleshed" out. LoL. Flesh.
Our main character Ellen (played by Katherine Hepburn's niece Katharine Houghton) gets most of the screen time and she falls prey to Carl's powers of manipulation. The flowers in the house start to affect her other servants, her husband, and her best friend, who just wants to bed him. (Rita Glam, stealing every scene she's in)
I obviously wanted to watch the movie for some eye candy, and I kinda' get it. Joe Dallesandro as Carl struts around the movie in nothing but a pair of tight camel skin pants. We get a butt shot and some ab shots, but nothing that I can't see on an episode of Desperate Housewives or Weeds.
Still, the acting of our two main actresses, (playing the typical main character and main character's horny friend that pollutes so many other films) rises above B movie status and they take the ridiculous script so seriously that it elicits some unnecessary laughter throughout.
Worth a watch for cult movie fans, and gay people, but don't expect too much. Just some flesh, flowers and HORROR!!!! heheh.

(500) Days of Summer - A Love Story with Balls

I love Zooey Deschanel. I love everything I've seen her in, even The Happening. She has it all: Her unique acting style. Her awesome singing voice (which we also get to hear in this movie) and her choice of acting roles. So far I've seen her play everything from the ingenue role of Lady Larken in the movie musical Once Upon a Mattress, a space traveler in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to a kick-ass Dorothy Gale in Tin Man.
She's recently been doing more mainstream fair like the formerly mention The Happening, Yes Man with Jim Carrey and Elf with Will Ferrel.
Zooey however is really the Queen of the Indie Scene. With films like Eulogy and the music album Volume 1 she has done with M. Ward as She and Him.
In (500) Days of Summer she plays the title character of Summer who Jospeh Gordon Levitt's character, Tom Hansen, pines for the duration of the film despite her constant telling him that she does not belive in having a boyfriend or being pinned down to one guy, and it's not hard to believe that he would still chase after her, at least for me.
(500) Days of Summer lets you know straight up that these two people will not end up together at the end of the film. The film lets you know how Tom Hansen feels about a sexual encounter he just had with Summer by breaking out into a big song and dance number. The film lets you know with a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie that the events are also not based on fact. Of course that is just not true, right?
There is so much reality infused into this romantic comedy that you laugh because as outlandish as some of the actions are of the characters (Summer and Tom sit in a park and see who can yell "penis" the loudest as people pass by) you can't help be see how real it is.
The movie is filmed in a very unique way in which we can tell exactly how our main character Tom Hansen is feeling. To the dance number already mentioned to the split screen sequence in which we see at - the same time - how he wants things to go down, and exactly how it will go down.
The movie is cleverly written, and the tone throughout the film is very even. It's very well acted and easy to believe. Plus Zooey's in it, hello.
Here's a performance of Zooey that has nothing to do with the movie.

Beautiful, no?

The Little Prince (1974) - The Lerner and Lowe Movie Musical Directed by Stanley Donen, That's A Lot

I always thought that The Little Prince was just an animated series on Nickelodeon so it surprised me when I was flipping through Disney Channel and saw that it was also a musical made in 1974. I was 10 back then. I later on found out that all of this, the animated series, the musical, and later on the Rachel Portman Opera was based off of the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

The story bring us into the world of an unnamed aviator who gets stranded in the dessert and finds company with a strange boy and his strange stories of planetary travel.
The movie, directed by Singing the Rain director Stanley Donen, is very close to the book, as are most of the adaptations of this story that I've seen. They usually have the same intro involving a drawing of an elephant being eaten by a snake. It's not a hat dammit.


After the intro with the drawing, the aviator gets stranded in the dessert, meets the prince and the prince tells his story, or stories, of what led him from his planet, called B612, and the many people and places he's met in his journeys.
What sets this version apart from other versions is the music by legendary music men Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe who also did the music and lyrics for Camelot and My Fair Lady. The songs are pretty good with "You're a Child" taking up the majority of his planetary visits. The songs do have a tendency to drag though. There are some songs I know i definitely would have cut for time. This movie is not long, it's 88 minutes, but due to songs that kind of drag, it feels loooong. I am a firm believer that music is story in a musical and for the most part this movie follows that rule, but there are one or two songs here that feel unnecassary and stretched too thin.
Gene Wilder and Bob Fosses get top billing in this movie, and neither of them are the aviator or the prince. Gene Wilder plays a Fox and Bob Fosse plays a dancing snake. Both meet the prince in his travels and affect him greatly. Great scenes they are. Bob Fosse's dancing is phenomenal, but it's one of those scenes that I believe was stretched too thin.
The aviator is played by stage and screen actor Richard Kiley. The prince is played by Steven Warner who's only other starring role would be in the disastrous 1976 film version of The Blue Bird. Both actors play off of each other very well really helps keep the story focused.
The effects are amazing with the 2d animated birds who carry the prince through his planetary travels and the fish eye lens that is used as he visits each planet, except for earth of course. Imagine a movie where most of it is shot with a fish eye lens. Scary huh?
A pretty good movie, but would've been much better with a few edits. If you read the book I have no doubt you'll love this. For musical theater fans, you might find enjoyment in the acting and singing and those Lerner and Lowe songs. For the rest of the world though, watch with caution.

Daria on DVD Finally May 11th

At last, an official DVD release of Daria. I would've preffered to have it be on blu ray, but I'm not picky. On a side note, Aeon Flux will be available on blu ray as an amazon.com exclusive.

Wow, I remember when this show came out. It was so different and so real. These characters might have been drawn, but I saw more of myself in these characters than in Dawson's Creek or Felicity.

Promoted as a Beavis and Butt-Head spin-off, Daria was it's polar opposite which aliented most fans of Mike Judge's series. Mike Judge would later on leave Beavis and Butt-Head behind to work on King of the Hill and the recent animated sitcom The Goode Family, and Daria would take on a life of her own.

Daria has had two telemovies and and has been an animated host on numerous MTV specials on top of having 65 episodes. Both telemovies will be included in this DVD release, rumored to be around 50 dollars, as well as every episode and an abundance of special features.

Click here for more info.

The Tune - Bill Plympton's Masterpiece

The Tune is an animated musical made by Oscar winning animator Bill Plympton (Your Face) who also did every single drawing in this feature. A first for animated movies. With Bill Plympton's drawings and music by the talented Maureen McElheron, The Tune becomes a unique classic.

The story follows songwriter Dell on a journey to write a song so he could live happily ever after with the girl of his dreams, Didi, also played by Maureen McEhleron. He travels through the wonderous place of Floobynooby and learns to write songs with his heart, and not his pancreas.
Drawn solely in a style that looks like colored pencil, the look of the film tends to be uneven, but Bill Plympton's style itself is so unique and invitingly strange that one tends to ignore the style shift as each song in the story is presented with a unique look.
The music is in this movie is what really makes the film. Mauren McElheron juggles so many styles that it's hard to believe that she's the sole composer. We go from Old Broadway to Country, to 60's Beach Rock. We even get some Rhythm and Blues and a Tango Piece. The music in The Tune really celebrates the old American Classics.
The Tune really suffers during some long drawn out sequences and songs that do garner laughs, but many might seem to think that they detract from the story. (Namely a scene with a wise man and another scene with two business men inflicting torture upon each other's faces.) Still, even with these scenes, it's very easy for me to recommend a viewing of this film.

Lil' Abner - Beefcake and Music, What's Not to Love?

During my downtime from work and my show, I decided to sit down and watch Lil' Abner. Two theater friends of mine have been talking about it, and I've been wanting to watch it for awhile now. I mean, look at that main actor. HOT!
If you haven't noticed by now, I love musicals, and Lil' Abner is a cute little musical. I was instantly pulled into this unique world based off of the comic strip of the same name by Al Capp.
The main plot introduces us to Daisy Mae's (Leslie Parish) plight to catch Lil' Abner (Peter Palmer) on Sadie Hawkin's Day and finally marry him. This simple plot expands and expands to include almost every character in the little town of Dogpatch and the American Government.

Lil Abner kind of reminded me of Oklahoma, but better. Oklahoma seemed to lack focus, whereas Lil' Abner is totally focused. Most importantly, you can feel the love behind every scene. The movie is just so infectious and charming that it's hard to not be pulled into this world.
There's also a few scenes with Julie Newmar playing the small role of Stupefyin' Jones. (because she can "stupefy" any man in her tracks)


Peter Palmer is absolutely delicious in his role as Lil' Abner, the title character and the original actor to play him on stage.
Lil' Abner comes together very nicely. The sets are beautiful, the singing is beautiful, the men are beautiful... :-)
What's not to love?

Alice on the Wall - Read the Review, Watch the Movie :-)

Upon review, Disney's Alice in Wonderland is not only one of the faithful cinematic retellings of Lewis Carrol's most well known books, but also a nice allegory for growing up. Alice starts the movie young and naive and grows throughout the movie, and I don't mean just physically. Not as obvious as one would expect in a Disney film, but it does happen.
I used to really hate this movie because I really like when Disney Studios personalize a well known story with their own magical touch. In this movie, the only real Disney staple I see is that of the character of Alice, and that's enough for me really. They really took this character out of the pages and put her into reality, and then put her into Wonderland, hehehe. Smiley face again :-)
I may have naysers to this next quote, but one thing I love about Disney movies is how they create strong central female characters. Throughout Cinderella's plight, she stays strong and true to herself. Aurora even has a hint, tiny tiny hint, of rebellion when she discovers she is truly a princess. Alice is a very strong character and she is what drives the entire movie. We really care about her because Disney allows us to get to know her; portrayed to perfection by Kathryn Beaumont. Kathryn Beaumont IS Alice. This little underrated actress is known for Alice and Wendy, but trust me folks, this girl OWNS Alice. End of story
This review however is not for Disney's well known adaptation, but for a special cut of the film I saw that synchronized Disney's Alice in Wonderland and Pink Floyd's well know album The Wall.
Like with MGM's Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, one simply has to play the album along with the footage of the film, and boom, a psychedelic version of a well known family film musical. I'm not going to get into the psychology behind audio synchronized type experiences, or how random the idea is, I'm just here to review one of them.
Alice on the Wall, or The Wonderland Wall isn't perfect, even though it's a much better synchro than Oz and Moon, but wow when it comes together it really comes together.
The first thing I noticed is when a scene changes, either the mood of the music changes or a song changes completely with the film. Other things I noticed is when sound effects on the album synch up with the action on-screen. A scene where Alice is cradling her kitten Dinah has a baby crying (or meowing) on the album.
Of course, not an ideal way to watch the movie, but it is fun when you and a bunch of friends want to sit around and see an interesting movie experience for little to no money. I mean, all you really need is a copy of The Wall and a copy of Disney's Alice, or you could watch it on the google video provided up above :-)

50 First Dates - Ed and Mark's Romantic Afternoon

So it was the morning after opening night of the musical I choreograph, sing and dance in, and Mark and I were just relaxing at home. I wanted to watch an obscure underground movie and Mark wanted to watch 50 First Dates, which I have never seen before. He likes doing that, watching movies with me that I've never seen before. I usually have watched whatever movie he wants to watch already. He especially likes watching a movie with me that neither have us have watched.
50 First Dates goes into that category of movies that I just didn't get to watching. I did want to watch it, but I just never got around to it.
As everyone knows, 50 First Dates is the story of a boy played by Adam Sandler meeting a girl played by Drew Barrymore who doesn't remember meeting him at all the following few days. So enchanted by the girl by Drew Barrymore he is, he decides to pursue her day after day so they can fall in love day after day.
Adam Sandler plays it straight for the most part. Straight meaning he's not the funny man in this one, and straight meaning he's not exclusively attracted to the ladies. Heheh. You've got to see the opening scene for that one to be explained.
The funny one in this one has got to be Drew Barrymore. This little lady lets it loose in this movie and I think she should always let it loose. She has a real talent for comedy that sadly is only properly displayed on the blooper real that's contained in the disc. Within the movie however, she does a delicate balance of retaining humor while dealing with the seriousness of her condition, which doesn't actually exist within our reality but within the reality of the movie. She's awesome.
There's also a scene with a vomiting walrus that I couldn't stop watching. Vomit is funny. :-) Smiles!!!
Also stars Dan Akroyd, Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and a heartfelt appearance from Amy Hill. (All-American Girl's Grandma Kim)
A pretty good romantic comedy that isn't without it's faults, but well worth a view. Now that that's over, I get to watch my obscure movie. Stay tuned for a review on that one, hehehe.

Happy Feet - I Know, Out of All People I Should've Been the First In Line to See This One

I finally forced myself to sit down and watch Happy Feet. Everyone who has seen it has told me to see it, and everyone who has seen it upon finding out I haven't seen it has been shocked beyond belief. I mean, it's an animated musical. What could I not like about it?
Happy Feet came out around the time of March of the Penguins, Farce of the Penguins and Surf's Up. A part of me felt as if Warner Bros' was just trying to compete. There was also nothing really about the movie that excited me. It was a jukebox musical (a musical using previously known songs) and those are always tricky, I wasn't too aware of it's cast (but if I had known that Nicole Kidman and Brittany Murphy had singing parts in this I would've been all over that CD) and the look of the film appeared to be unimaginative. It just looked blah.
That was all changed once I saw the amazing CGI recreation of the penguins and their environment and Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman's beautiful opening number. The film's CGI is far from cheap or gimmicky. A lot of love went behind the look of the penguins and the feel for the piece over all. The songs do what their supposed to do: move a story forward. The songs are very integral to the plot and do not detract.
The plot is also surprisingly multi layered. This film could have easily been a fluff piece, but there are so many issues and themes scattered throughout the movie. In this movie alone we deal with religion, class system, and how one can be treated for being different.
Mumbles, our hero of the piece and voiced by Elijah Wood as an adult and Elizabeth Daily as a youngin', is born different from the rest of his penguin neighborhood for the simple fact that he wasn't born with a natural singing voice and he dances. No other penguin in the pack dances. They think it's weird. For this he is automatically shunned and his father is ashamed of him. He finds a friend in Gloria (Britanny Murphy) and always has the support of his mother voiced by Nicole Kidman. Along his adventures he also makes fast friends with a pack of latino voiced penguins.
I know.
Mumble's parents are named Norma Jean and Memphis. Get it? I thought it was pretty clever.
I think as long as people keep being dramatically afraid of what they don't understand, stories with the theme of isolation will always thrive. So sadly, they will always thrive.
Where the movie threw me off a little was at it's second act where it seems to be another movie altogther. I originally was going to argue that it seems to begin as one type of movie and then turn into another, but Happy Feet defies so many rules already that it works. This movie begins as a musical, and then evolves into an action adventure science fiction movie. I would've preferred to have more songs pushing the story forward in the second act, but I was so caught up in the struggle of our characters that I didn't even notice. This is risky film making and I wish more studios would be this risky.
Happy Feet is a wholly unique experience and one I'll be buying on blu-ray. The blu-ray also contains a bonus cartoon, I Love to Singa, from the Warner Bros. Vault that explains this cute joke from South Park.


Looking for a good musical and an awesome CGI experience? This is it. Not South Park, Happy Feet of course.

More Alice News

Wow, what I thought was going to happen is going to happen. With the upcoming release of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland comes a slew of Alice DVDs, both new releases and re-releases. The most popular of these new Alice DVDs coming out is Paramount Pictures' Alice in Wonderland done in 1933.
Out of print for years now and only available on TV in edited form, Paramount's Alice in Wonderland will finally see it's way onto DVD March 2nd. Tim Burton's Alice comes out on March 5th. See how marketing works?
This is one Alice I have never seen but I have heard so much about it. Like most versions, it combines elements of both Alice books.
Here's the only clear scene I can find. It features The White Queen (in sheep form) and Humpty Dumpty.


Like other Alice adaptations, this fim also has a big name cast. Hard to tell unless you have a good ear, but that's WC Fields as Humpty. Other cast members include Gary Cooper as The White Knight and CARY GRANT!!!! He is so dreamy. Not sure how dreamy he'll be playing The Mock Turtle though.
The amazon listing shows that the movie is Black and White and COLOR. Not sure what that means but I am anxious to find out.
This is definitely a version of Alice I want to purchase real soon. This one and Meryl Street in Alice at the Palace.

Alice in TV and Cinema

I'm one of those guys that when I like something, I really like something. Due to the anticipation of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, I started to watch the 1985 musical version of Alice in Wonderland, which also led to the viewing of several other versions of Alice that I have obtained through the years including an X Rated Musical Version. We won't talk much about that one because I want to keep this family friendly. Well, my version of family friendly.

I thought it would be awesome to feature a list of the film versions of Alice that I have been exposed to. Keep in mind this is not chronological but it's listed in the order that I was exposed to a viewing of each film. I've also purposely left some out. I've decided only to include some of the most popular and sometimes strange versions. 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

• I was first exposed to the Alice stories when my mother rented the musical Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which featured a young Michael Crawford (original Phantom of the Opera) as The White Rabbit and a young Fiona Fullerton as Alice who would go on to be a Bond Girl in A View to Kill. Also in this film are big name people playing the residents of Wonderland, a staple in these productions. Aside from Crawford and Fullerton we've also got Dudley Moore and Peter Sellers to name a few. One thing I love about this movie is how naturally the songs come in and out. That's a huge plus in any musical. The sets are also incredibly beautiful if not obviously manufactured. It works in this movie though due to the childlike nature of the production. The costumes are also top notch despite the majority of them obviously being humans in animal costumes. However, beautiful as this movie is, this movie didn't leave too much of an impression on me. The next one did though.

Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland

• The following week I was exposed to Disney's take on Alice. As a child, I related more to this version of the Alice character. Voiced by Kathryn Beaumont, who also voiced Wendy in Disney's Peter Pan, this Alice felt more real to me despite being animated. The songs in this one were much better too and Alice was given a driving force to travel through Wonderland: she wanted to get the hell outta there.
• Originally, Disney had a much different version of Alice in mind, but when Alice in Wonderland fans got a hold of this news, they wrote letters begging him not to detract too far from the book. As a result, Disney's version is very, very stuck strictly to the book and doesn't have the same warm feel as the other films in the Disney Library. Not a bad movie, but I can't help but think it could've been better had Disney just made the film he wanted and ignored the letters from ignorant book fans.

Alice in Wonderland

• This was the 1985 TV musical I reviewed in the previous article. This one has stayed with me the most out of the rest of the others on this list due to it's script, it's top notch all star cast and it's incredible songs. Click here for a full over view, or just look for it on the right of the blog archive list.

Alice in Wonderland

• Another all star production, this one made in 1999. A very effective and breathtaking opening scene sets the stage for this production. The camera moves through Alice's room to show toys  that would later become characters in Wonderland, and then moves through the halls of her home and outside to a tea party that shows human guests that would also become characters in Wonderland. Tina Majorina of Veronica Mars and Napoleon Dynamite stars as Alice complete with a british accent. A bit slow at times and sometimes too reliant upon it's big name stars. (Whoopi Goldberg as The Cheshire Cat, Martin Short as The Mad Hatter, George Wendt as Tweedle Dee and Miranda Richardson as The Queen of Hearts to name a few) I give this version mad props though in special effects and in keeping true to the spirit of the book. Also features puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Shop, and not the first time the Creature Shop has done something Alice related, but we'll get to that later.

Alice by stop motion filmmaker, Jan Švankmajer.

• This version of Alice might be found as strange. A human Alice in a stop motion animated world, Alice travels through Wonderland chasing a stuffed taxidermic white rabbit who bleeds saw dust, and that's nothing compared to the rest of it. Told with very little dialogue, except for some minor narration from Alice, this movie is purely for the visual aspects as opposed to the dialogue aspect like the other movie versions. In one of the more eerie scenes, a mouse makes it's home on top of Alice's head, mistaking it for an island. He even gets as far as starting a fire to cook some rice. It's well worth a view to see the outrageousness of it all.

Alice Through the Looking Glass

• One of the few movies that is based purely on the second Alice book Through the Looking Glass. Most Alice film adaptations just takes some elements of Through the Looking Glass - The Tweedles, The Flowers - and plugs them into the Wonderland sequences. This is one of those rare movies that takes Through the Looking Glass and adapts it for film without even touching Wonderland. Kate Beckinsale of Underworld fame stars as Alice in this one of a kind production. The film has truly set itself apart style-wise from the other adaptations on this list due to it's quirky nature. The Red Queen walks around in shiny red pleather. The White Queen has a head of hair that looks like coils of paper. The Tweedles look like a gay couple. Alice changes hairstyles and costumes as she enters each new scene, even sprouting wings at one point. This film is noted for containing a scene from a cut chapter of the original book. 

Jonathan Miller's Alice in Wonderland.

• This one has got to be my most personal favorite. Alice is decked out with wild hair and a real victorian dress. Gone is the apron and the bright colors, since this version was filmed in black and white to emulate victorian pictures. Gone are also the animal costumes. Alice walks through a dreamlike world, filmed in England during the summer of 1966. This version gives Lewis Carrol's intentions a certain clarity. The lack of animal costumes gives the viewer a closer glimpse of Carrol's intended satire. Highly recommended. 

Alice in Wonderland The X Rated Musical.

• We're going to not spend too much time on this one. The songs were really good, The Mad Hatter was totally my type, Alice was adorable. Get the R Rated version. It's paced better.

Dreamchild

• A look into the REAL Alice. Alice Liddel, the inspiration for Alice. An older Alice is invited to America to celebrate Lewis Carrol, who is long dead, and she is haunted by visions from her past that include characters from Wonderland. The dream sequences feature creations from Jim Henson's Creature Shop who would later on lend their talents to the 1999 movie version of Alice in Wonderland. The movie doesn't delve too much into Lewis Carrol and Alice's relationship, but what it does touch upon is very sweet if not a little disturbing for modern audiences. Kind of reminded me of Finding Neverland.

I can't wait to add Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland to this list. That one I've been waiting for for awhile now. Until then, I got my list of Alice movies right here, and many more I left out :-)

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